


Stanchez Appreciation Week 2017

by SioDymph



Category: Gravity Falls, Rick and Morty
Genre: Drug Use, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Drug Use, Wordcount varies each chapter, chapters 4 and 5 have fiddauthor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-15
Updated: 2017-03-23
Packaged: 2018-10-05 17:20:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10313261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SioDymph/pseuds/SioDymph
Summary: A week's worth of Stanchez prompts!I admit the first chapter isn't my best work but it gets better after that I promise! lol





	1. Day 1: Heist

**Author's Note:**

> Well, here we are Stanchez Week! Here's my take on the first prompt and I hope you folks enjoy my stories this week!

About a week ago the two had made a small pit-stop back on earth and knowing Stan’s luck they ran into one of his old “friends and flames”. At the time Stan had only known know the other as a fellow grifter but it seemed while apart the scum had clawed his way up the food chain and was now the ringleader of a gang. And because the universe seemed to hate him so much, Stan’s old flame was still holding an impressively large grudge against him. So after being held at gun point and humiliated Stan and Rick lost everything, money, over twenty fake ID’s, they even nabbed his bronze knuckles, and worst of all they’d taken the portal gun. They’re only way out of this shitty town and dimension.

Rick hadn’t wasted a second after that. He wasn’t afraid of the idiot would figure out his portal gun, but it didn’t make him less royally pissed his invention had been nabbed in the first place. No way in hell anybody messed with his boyfriend, and definitely nobody ever got away with stealing Rick Sanchez’s crap. They were goin’ on a heist.

They tracked down Stan’s former Flame’s base of operations to a few warehouses down by the bay. The decrepit seedy kind that reminded Stan of those old mystery movies. Those these ones were in really poor shape, like they could fall apart at any moment. One of them acted as the business area for meetings, deals and intimidations, another acted as a sort of resident’s hall for the Flame’s men and a prison for anyone who owed him a debt. And the third warehouse was being used as… an actual, normal, goddamn warehouse. Stan was shocked, no one ever seemed to use warehouses to actually store their stuff.

But once they knew where their stuff was they made their gear, some of which was made from literal garbage. Stan had no idea how but regardless he both admired and feared Rick’s mad skill. Then once it got dark, the two put on their blackest clothes and made their way down to the bay to get back what was rightfully theirs.

There was a lot of loud commotion coming from the business warehouse at the far-end of the pier. Looks like Stan’s flame was holding a party. This left the resident and warehouse warehouses with less people milling about which worked perfectly in their favor.

Finding a pocket of time in between patrolling guards, the two crept towards the third warehouse. Rick fired off a grappling hook made from a rusty old harpoon and some modified tin cans and after their pair scaled the warehouse building, scrambled into a window on the third story, and they were in.

Things had been going ok. They’d made it inside undetected, didn’t have any run-ins as they made their way through the warehouse. In fact it was pretty much empty inside the warehouse, warehouse. Really quiet.

Stan realized he and Rick should have noticed right then it had been too quiet, but he hadn’t. He’d just been so excited that the heist was going well and when Rick’s portal gun was finally in sight he could have cared less about the suspiciously empty hallways. They were so close to finally having their ticket back out of this dump. They were so close to finally being free.

They crept through the warehouse till they finally found the right storage room and there sitting on top of a stack of crates innocently sat Rick’s gun. Only a matter of feet away from them. And as Stan and Rick began to realize it had been placed a little too perfectly, like it had been put on display, all hell broke loose.

Men poured into the warehouse from every door firearms at hand. Several red lights started dotting their shirts and when Stan looked up he saw snipers. God damn, this guy really went all out.

A mocking slow clap came from the third story and Stan’s old flame finally appeared. Sounding like a complete asshole as he started monologuing. “Wow! I must say Stan, you never cease to amaze! First I thought you died in the desert, then years later here you are back from the dead. Very impressive.”

“God, how-how the hell did you date this guy?” Rick hissed in his ear as the old Flame kept going, probably saying something stupid about how they’d failed.

“He was a lot cuter when we were young ok? Less of a discount bond villain.” Stan whispered back.

Both of them had stopped paying attention to the guy but their attention quickly went back to the guy when he picked up their portal gun.

“And all of this trouble, all this fuss over this? What, what the heck am I even holding?”

He waved it around, struggling to pull the trigger and frowning when it did nothing. Rick had personally never been happier about forgetting to charge his gun ahead of time.

Stan stepped forwards, ignoring the eight guns cocking and aiming at his chest. “It’s none of your business! It ain’t worth shit so why don’t you just hand that back over before you hurt yourself… you.”

“If it’s not worth anything, why bother coming back to- wait,” The monologuing tone immediately fell from his face and he started at Stan, deadpan. “You don’t remember my name, do you?”

“I do! It’s uhhhhhhh…” Stan started snapping his fingers as he tried to get the name.

Stan’s old partner huffed indignantly. “I can’t believe you! I can’ believe you forgot my name! We were together for over a year you ass!”

“Nice.” Rick commented dryly.

“Shut up! No, I got it! It’s right on the tip of my tongue uh- Jim? No, no definitely not him, he had a mustache. Uhhhh-“

“I double-crossed you! I left you for dead out in the middle of the wilderness! I could of killed you!” The now furious old flame shouted.

“Well you weren’t the last.” Rick said shrugging. Honestly crap like this seemed to only happen to him and Stan. “Cute stuff like betrayal and near-death exp-experiences kinda loose that spark after the millionth time, ya’know?”

Stan was still wracking his brain for a name as the tension in the room passed the point between deathly to awkward. “Uhhh I’m pretty sure it started with a “T” right? T- Tre- Trevor? No uhhh Tray? Yeah! You’re Tray!”

“Finally!” Tray said glaring daggers at the duo. “Took you long enough!”

Remembering his name, Stan began layering on what he passed as charm, slicked back his mullet and sauntered his way over to Tray. “I’d get there eventually. So Tray how about you be a pal and give us back our stuff? Just us old flames, old buddies, Huh?”

“No way! You two wouldn’t of wasted your time coming back here if this was just junk so this is obviously worth something to somebody!” Tray yelled smacking away his hand.

“No it’s just a little memento, it has emotional value!” Stan tried fibbing but Tray was having none of it.

“One way or another I’ll figure out what this hunk of junk can do, with or without your help. So if I were you I’d really think about trying to be more useful to me. Now get these sack of human garbage out of my face! Throw’em in the pound!”

Tray’s men went to work cuffing Stan and Rick from behind and dragging them out of the warehouse. And they watched helplessly as the portal gun they had been so close to taking back was stuffed away into Tray’s inner coat pocket.

Just as they were taken out of the warehouse Tray signaled his men to stop one last time. “And Stan, one last thing to think about? No matter what I’ll be making sure you remember my name for a long, long time…”

“Oh come on, we haven’t talked in years! How was I supposed to know we’d ever meet again?” Stan shouted as they were pushed out of the warehouse and into the cold night air, towards whatever “the pound” was.

~~~

All in all, “the pound” wasn’t the worst prison Rick and Stan had ever landed themselves in. They were given room to move, walk around, one of the guard gave them water bottles. Still, it was defiantly a pace Stan could do without ever seeing again for the rest of his life. “The Pound” was a fitting name, instead of prison bars every cell was caged off with wire fencing. Their hands were still cuffed but while now they were in front of them, they were also attached to a chain that went out of the cell past Stan’s line of vision. And at the end of the hall there were several cages filled with dogs just to let the whole “pound” gimmick sink in.

It kinda reminded Stan of the time they had both pissed of a wack-job and they’d been locked together in a tiny dog cage. Or the time he’d messed with a mob and they’d left him in a room with a whole back of greyhounds.

Stan paced about the small cell, lost in thought if not for the constant jingling of the chains on his cuffs. And Rick sat crisscrossed on the one bench silently observing their surroundings. Both of them brewing up a plan of escape.

“Door’s flimsy enough. Could bend it in half with one hand.” Stan mumbled under his breath quiet enough so the passing guards wouldn’t hear.

“Still have to deal with the chains Lee, they’re the durable stuff. And we gotta somehow get them off us or the ground and fish them through the door.” Rick mumbled back. He looked down the hall, careful not to make eye-contact with the guards though he was analyzing every other part of them from their clothes to size of their steps. And he scanned the back of the hall frowning. “You think they’d use the dogs?”

“Eh, I dunno. Most of them look really young, like puppy young.” The more passing glances he snuck at the caged dogs, the more he noticed they were either adorably young or really old and arthritic. All the real guard dogs must be on their patrols around this time and these guy were for show. “Yeah I don’t think these guys are trained yet. We could take’em.”

“Ok, ok we can work with that.” Rick said. Stan could practically see the gears churning in Ricks head, watching as he looked down at his handcuffs and focused. Then like a lightbulb flashing on, he looked up at Stan smirking.

“Ok… I think I got it Lee, just give me a couple seconds, distract the guards, get them over here and Il-I’ll do my thing.”

“You got it babe!” Stan said nodding before dramatically flagging down the guards. Hopefully this worked…

~~~

Long story short: it did.

While Stan kept the guard’s attention faking a stomach problem Rick had pounced and used the chains outside of the cage to his advantage. And after a bit of scuffling, chains pulled tight enough to cut, further scuffling, thrown punches and finally fishing the stupid cuffs through the cage door they found themselves free. And when the doors at the end of the hall were opened and the dogs charged at them, Stan and Rick easily out ran the old farts and the puppies just followed them around because well they were just little puppies and thought this was all just a game.

By the time they made it back outside the two had four dogs still happily trailing behind them.

“Sooooo,” Stan started, still scratching behind one of the dog’s ears. “What now?”

“Now we get our shit and get out of here!” Rick said.

“But Tray has the portal gun and we’re still by the actual warehouse.”

“Yeah but all our other shit is still in the warehouse.”

Stan paused a moment. “Oh, yeah almost forgot about all that! You don’t think they took the bee gun too?”

“Hope not, for-fUUUUUUghhhhh-orty percent of this plan’s riding on the fact they didn’t.”

“Alright. So clue me in, what exactly is the plan here Rick?” Stan asked, they were getting closer to the warehouse and it looked like this time around they’d have to get in from the first story since their garbage grappling hook was now inside.

“Get our shit back, make our way over to the last warehouse, use the puppies as a distraction, bee gun the shit out of Tray’s goons then bee gun the shit out of Tray, get our portal gun and finally get out of this dump!”

It sounded so easy when you said it like that, just a simple seven step plan. A lot could go wrong which made Stan worried. But then on the other hand Tray didn’t feel like much of a threat, just an annoyance so the stakes didn’t feel all that high to start out.

“Ok, but how exactly do we use puppies as a distraction? These aren’t third-graders we’re dealing with here.”

“Like this.”

They grabbed the dogs and hid behind a dumpster as one of the guards passed by. And when the guard sounded like he was right on the other side of their hiding spot Rick released one of the puppies. It happily trotted out to greet the guard. And they heard his surprise.

“Buttons? How on earth did you get out again?”

Not wasting a second longer Rick leapt out from behind the dumpster and tackled the man. Stan could only watch, it was like one of them nature documentaries where the snake just pounces on something. Silent and surprisingly calculated. He forgot sometimes just how much experience Rick had fighting, and while his skinny frame didn’t show it the guy really knew how to knock the air out of someone.

Stan came out of hiding with the rest of the dogs to see Rick triumphantly grinning and the guard unconscious at his feet. Buttons was still biting at the man’s shoes.

Rick picked back up the puppy, scratching its head. “Good work Buttons!” And he turned to Stan when he saw him nudging the knocked-out guard with his foot. “Don’t worry, he’ll be fine. Probably. Let’s get a move on before the next one get here!”

One broken window later the two were back in the warehouse, though the whole time Stan feared a whole mob of angry men would burst out from nowhere again like before. But this time nobody was hiding up in the rafters or behind doors. For now at least nobody suspected they escaped. But it was only a matter of time now before the wreck they’d caused in the “Pound” was discovered. And the guards locked this place down. They had to act fast, but not stupid.

They found their gear in a crate near the center of the warehouse, where the portal gun had been put actually. And along with their stuff they made from garbage they also now had their much more prized possessions and weapons back. Stan kissed each bronze knuckle as he put them back on his fingers. Though he had to sadly put the dogs down so he could sling a backpack full of their clothes and ID’s over his shoulder. Rick beamed as he pulled out his bee gun.

He didn’t get much time to marvel tough before he heard several guards shout outside. Looks like their window in had been discovered.

Poor bastards. He cocked his gun and started for the nearest door. Stan followed suit with the puppies right behind him. This was going to be interesting…

~~~

Two hours later the pair were relaxing in a rundown motel. Stan was out cold, snoring lightly while Rick relaxed next to his side. The puppies were cuddled up all around them. And over on the dresser he could hear the white noise of the portal gun charging up. In a few hours they’d finally be able to leave this dump again.

Rick always wished it could be forever but if he were honest they’d probably come back to earth again in a few months. He had no idea why, neither of them liked it here, they both had their fair share of shitty memories, ruined dreams and messed-up pasts thanks to this ball of dirt. And there were hundreds of other place Rick knew were more fun, and they were both actually welcomed. So why the hell did they always come back? There was nothing for them here. It was like they had this connection to Earth that made them always come back to check in on things. Rick blamed it on dumb human instincts evolved to ensure species stayed genetically diverse. Yeah, that sounded about right. It wasn’t like either of them ever missed this dump.

As Rick thought this over Stan’s snores teetered off until he was mumbling half-awake. Rolling over he faced Rick and tried touch his face but his aim was off and he ended up putting his hand on his shoulder instead.

“Mornin’ babe.” He murmured, sleep heavy in his voice. “How’s the gun charging, we ready to go?”

Rick couldn’t help but laugh a little. Between his barely awake state, and all the puppies still sleeping on him Rick doubted anything short of a forklift could get Stan out of bed now.

“Nah, we still got a couple hours.” Rick said softly. Just a few more hours, then they could finally put Earth behind them again.

As much as he hated it, he had to admit, of all their trips back to their home dimension, this one had to be the most interesting so far. It’d been a while since he and Stan got back to their roots with a good old-fashioned heist. A heist, and imprisonment, a prison escape. They even got free dogs out of it! Yeah this trip to earth hadn’t been that bad, it’d actually been fun. Even that asshole Tray hadn’t been that bad. Thinking about the guy though suddenly reminded Rick of something he’d wanted to ask Stan earlier.

“Hey, hey Lee!” He nudged at Stan until he woke back up and looked at him through squinted eyes. “So, you’ll remember my name right? Ya’know, if we ever split?”

“Course I would, how could I forget a guy like you, Robby?” Stan grunted before rolling over and going back to sleep.

Rick laughed and hit his side as Stan got comfortable and slipped back to sleep. “Ha! Good one Lee… You were joking right?”


	2. Day 2: Adventures in the Multiverse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For day 2 I decided to do my take on Rick showing Stan the portal gun for the very first time!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annnnnnnd Sanchez week is already over! :P
> 
> Sorry these are all coming out so late! I've had midterms all week slowing me down, but now that those are done and over with these prompts from the week should be coming out soon! 
> 
> I still feel bad though so I've decided to do something I did for a few other fan-weeks and also take requests! So any story ideas you wanted to see with these emotionally constipated grandpas? From now until March 24th send them over to me and I'll write it out for you!

Stan had been living at Rick’s place for three months now. They’d worked on several “projects” in that time and all of them had gone pretty smoothly for the most part. Rick would pull the strings and organize and Stan proved to be that little extra bit of charm and muscle he’d been missing. Sure, he could take out some chumps on his own but he knew his twig-self didn’t really scream “Don’t mess with me, I mean business.” It had taken a lot less effort to settle on prices with Stan fast-talking the idiots and strong-manning the actual threats. They made a pretty good pair. And it always helped that the man was easy on the eyes too, one of the few people he knew he could make a mullet look slightly less stupid.

On top of all that Stan was a decent houseguest, roommate now at this point. He kept his nose outta his stuff and never questioned what Rick was making beyond the initial curiosity level. And while he could tell most of what he said to Lee went in one hear and out the other, he could appreciate how the guy made an effort to be interested in what he was saying. But he was still smart enough to know not to double-cross Rick and sell off any of his ideas.

And with that Stan didn’t know anything about Rick’s “off-planet work”. He knew he worked with a lot of “techno-sciency ma-jig’s” as he’d so eloquently put it once, but the portal gun and the ship were both completely unknown to him.

Stan seemed pretty stable, and he was proving to be a great partner and friend to have around. So over the last month Rick had become tempted by the thought of showing Stan his big secret project. He hadn’t shown a single human his portal gun, well any human from this dimension technically. Rick still wasn’t sure of other dimension’s humans counted as humans or aliens, it was a muddled grey to him. But if he told Stan he’d be the first and only human from this dimension to know.

It was so tempting to Rick now. He could finally have a partner to go with him on his little adventures. He could show someone all the crazy-incredible things he’d seen, he could share it all with someone and stop slowly going insane keeping all this to himself. And he could only imagine the sort of feats he and Stan could accomplish out in the multiverse compared to everything they’d already done on earth. It would be amazing.

On the other hand though what if he was overestimating Stan, projecting his own ideas and dreams onto the guy. What if he brought him through a portal and Stan had a mental breakdown? Stan was one of the only humans he could truly consider a friend and what if he lost him?

After almost a month of quietly stewing on it, until he finally said “screw it”. That morning he slumped down next to Stan, leaning on him in a way that use to make Stan complain but now he just accepted it.

“So Lee,” Rick began,”What’chu wanna do today?”

Stan shrugged, making Rick slide a little but he made no effort to get him off after that. “I don’t know. We don’t have any plans today?”

“Nope.”

“Huh… nothing I guess.”

Rick grinned, the portal gun sat in his jacket pocket. He wondered what Stan would think of it. “Yo-you wanna go somewhere?”

“Depends. Where?” Stan had learned the hard way never to agree to something Rick said without knowing all the details first. Fool him into smuggling pugs once shame one you, fool him into smuggling pugs twice shame on him.

“I’m not sure, I wanna take you everywhere. I know a few places that would blow your mind.”

Stan rolled his eyes and shoved Rick completely off of him. “Wait! Are we literally going out or are you talkin’ about drugs or something?”

“Nope real places! You could say they’re… out of this world!” In his head he could imagine how pissed off the hundreds of other Ricks at the citadel would be if they heard him say that but he couldn’t help it. He was a simple Rick with a corny sense of humor. “Come on Lee! It’ll be fun!”

Stan sighed, rubbing his thumb and index finger over his eyes before finally giving in. “Alright fine, but I don’t wanna go crazy. So, where- how are we getting anywhere? My car’s still at the shop.”

“With this!” Rick said, dramatically whipping out his portal gun.

Stan looked skeptical. “A laser gun you stuck a lightbulb on?”

“No!” Rick said in mock offense, he knew a guy like Stan wouldn’t believe him right away. “You even know what you’re looking at Lee? This right here is my crowning achievement! This- this thing is what brings me to the next level!”

Stan looked over the gun a little more carefully frowning. “Rick? I’ve seen you make a lot of impressive things, but this ain’t anything to write home about, you’ve got better than this.”

“Trust me, it’s gonna take a lot to top this! Let’s start off easy, just-just give me a place you wanna go! Anywhere in this world!”

“How’bout uhhh… the beach?” Stan said, it looked like he was willing to play along for now. And Rick noticed how Stan’s eyebrows crinkled when he’d said “this world”. The guy didn’t always show it but he could catch on fast.

As Rick took back the gun and set the coordinates he realized he was beaming. This was going to be great. Good or bad Stan’s reaction would be priceless.

“Alright Lee, you got it! On trip to the beach!”

Then lifting his hands he fired the portal gun at the wall. A vibrant beam of green light shot out. A lot bigger than what Stan was expecting. Then as it hit the wall, the light began expanding, getting bigger and bigger until it made a plate of swirling green energy.

Stan stood up crossing his arms and frowning. “That’s just a projection, you got a couple projectors hidden around here, don’t you.”

“Nope! It’s real!”

“You’re full of shit Sanchez.”

“Come on! Put your hand through it if it’s fake, I dare you!”

Never one to back down from a dare Stan went up to the portal and reached out to touch it. But instead of brushing past it to the wall behind like he expected, his hand traveled through the portal. He stretched his hand further in waiting to touch the back wall but his hand kept going, further and further, until his arm was in all the way to the elbow. That was impossible, the wall should have just been a few inches away…

He kept sliding further and further into the portal up to his shoulder now. He felt a breeze tickle his hand, and a warmth was enveloping that made his skin still in the chilly apartment prickle. He was so close to the portal now his nose sat right on the edge of the swirling vortex. He should be able to see the back wall by being so close to the projection, still the portal was opaque.

There was only one thing left to do. Stan squeezed his eyes shut, held his breath, braced himself, and stuck his head through the portal.

In an instant he was gone from the grimy rundown apartment he and Rick shared. The sounds of the city outside were gone. And in their places were gently rolling waves and a few stray seagulls cawing. And when he opened his eyes he saw he was back in glass shard beach. But it didn’t look like the same beach in his memories. The signs had been repainted pink and green instead of the red and blue he remembered and a few parked cars were the current modern models. Was… was he really back in Glass Shard?

When his toes crushed down on the gritty sand he realized he’d stepped through the portal completely. And with it, all his sense felt completely heightened and focused on this dimension. The warmth of the sun, the smell of salt mixed with the taffy and gasoline from the boardwalks nearby, the sight, the sight of the constant ocean tide rolling in and out, sea glass, shells and stray litter along the shore. It was really real.

“Pretty, pretty great huh?”

Stan spun around to see Rick there, looking far too pleased with himself. And behind his smug self, the portal sparked and dissolved away. Rick stopped him before he rushed towards it.

“Hey it’s no big deal! I can just fire another one whenever you wanna go… So what do you think?”

Stan was still recovering from his slack-jawed stated, looking around at everything walking in circles. “I… I never thought I’d see this dump again. This is fucking amaz- How the hell is this real!”

“Spent years working out the math on this baby alone. Instant teleportation to any plane, any space!” He said happily holding up his gun before frowning slightly. “Still trying to figure out time though…”

“Rick this is- this is just- You could change everything! … You aren’t gonna go public with this thing are you?”

“Fuck no I’m not going public! People can barely handle normal guns and bombs. You’ve seen those morons Lee! You think I’d trust anyone with this sort of shit? I’m the only one who did the work and did the math so I’m the only one who gets to use it!” Rick said suddenly becoming very passionate about his gun and waving it around. Stan counted themselves lucky this was a quiet day-week at the beach otherwise they’d be making a scene, and probably traumatizing some people by just walking straight out of a god damn portal.

It didn’t hurt to be a little cautious though. He went over to Rick and eased his hands onto the other man’s shoulders until his settled down a little. “Yeah, yeah you’re right. You got a point there. So what do you plan on using this thing for?”

Rick talked as the two sat down in the sand. “Go anywhere I like, whenever I want. It limitless, we could go anywhere! Nothing can stop you!”

“I gotta admit, that sounds nice. Just dropping everything and leaving. Go on an adventure. See the whole world.”

Rick fell onto his shoulder and grimaced, Stan had been pretty accepting of the portals already but now came the real question. The real point where Stan would either keep swimming with him, or he’d sink. “You know we can see a lot more than Earth.”

“We could go to other planets?”

“Planets, solar systems, galaxies… dimensions…”

“Dimensions?”

“It’s infinite Lee… It’s amazing…” Rick realized he was starting to hold Stan’s hand but he didn’t stop him so he kept going. “And I wanna share it with you.”

“Really?” Stan asked holding Rick’s hand back and leaning in closer. This all felt so amazing, too good to be true honestly, and he began feeling paranoid that he might blow this. Stan had been trying to go slowly, he really liked Rick and he didn’t want to ruin things with one of the only people left in the world he trusted.

“Hell yeah! I wouldn’t of shown you all this if I hadn’t! You’re my best friend man!”

Stan felt his face getting hot when Rick said that. He actually considered him a friend? Now Stan really didn’t want to blow this.

“So? You wanna see how far this baby can take us?”

“Uh, I’m good with going anywhere Rick!”

“Oh come on Lee! I’ve seen loads already! Where do you wanna go?”

Stan relaxed and thought a little harder, got some of his creative juices flowing. Where would he really want to go if he could go anywhere in… all of reality.

“You ever find a place where the sky’s green and the grass is blue?”

“I’ve seen 23 actually!” Rick said proudly as he started setting coordinate in his portal gun.

“What about a place where a royal flush is with number cards instead?”

Rick looked up at Stan with a glint in his eye. “You know there’s an entire planet dedicated to gambling too?”

“Oh we are going there for sure!” Stan cheered he pulled himself off the ground and brushed some of the sand off of him. “We’ll need to go home and clean up first.”

“Yeah, I just thought the same thing!”

Stan seemed a little uneasy about his last small request to Rick. “And, do you think maybe we could see where my-” He stopped himself from finishing what he was going to say and shook his head.

“Yeah Lee? Where else you wanna go? I got enough charge for a space odyssey on this baby!”

Stan just sighed and let go of whatever his initial idea was. “Nah that would have been stupid. Just… do you think we could stop by here later? It’s always nice at sundown, and all that.”

“Yeah sure, I told you we can do whatever we want!” Rick said before firing off the gun and once again another portal formed.

This time Stan tried to be much quicker going into the portal he still faltered a bit before fully stepping through. The wall of cold air slapped Stan in the face as once again he was back in their dingy apartment. He wasn’t sure if teleporting like that was something he’d ever get used to. The idea did seem funny to him though. Just an ordinary part of his day, go to work at the bar, pick up dinner, go with Rick to Pluto, just an ordinary day.

Rick was suddenly behind him shoving him forwards. “Come on! Keep it moving Lee, we got place to be!”

“Oh! Yeah, just give me a minute.” He looked down and realized he was still in his pajamas. He literally just went with Rick, crossing five states in a matter of milliseconds to go to the beach all before he’d even gotten dressed.

A half hour later Stan was showered, dressed and wearing sneakers oh his feet and bronze knuckles in his pocket. And Rick was in his usual get-up of black leather and faded blues. They were just about ready to leave when a thought occurred to Stan.

“Wait, so you’ve been out into the alternate thingy-“

“Multiverse?”

“Multiverse already, all on your own?”

“A’yep!” Rick said confidently.

“Not afraid of like, getting attacked or killer plants or… alien diseases?”

“Nope!” Rick said just as confidently.

“And you just like, hang out with anyone or just, do your own thing.”

“Actually that reminds me, you know the other guys in my band?”

“Squanchy and Birdperson? The furry guys?” Stan said, he’d met them a few times. They seemed pretty nice, fun to party with. Even if they were a little strange.

“Yeah, they’re not in costume.”

“What! You mean that’s what they actually-“

“A’yep!”

Stan couldn’t believe this. Like, it actually made sense in a weird, weird way. But at the same time this was not what he’d expected from Rick this morning. He’d had drug trips that were saner than this day was turning out to be. He sighed as Rick fired off his gun and another swirling portal was made.

“We’re actually gonna meet up with them later. You ready to go?”

Stan steeled himself, got back his cool and nodded. “As I’ll ever be Rick.”

Then together they both stepped through the portal to an entirely new reality.

Stan couldn’t lie to himself. This whole thing was utterly terrifying. Just stepping blind into a different world? No idea what could be on the other side? This was insane! This was mind-blowing! He was probably going to end up dead!

Yet at the same time, Stan felt confident. Together he and Rick had done some pretty impressive things. They done everything in the book by now when it came to crimes, everything Stan could do with his weak but still existent moral-code. They’d brought guys Stan use to see as impossible down to their knees together. They’d made more money than he could count, they’d lost a lot of it to but that was beside the point. He still didn’t know for sure if they’d ever become anything more but as a team, as partners, they were unstoppable. So he found himself almost daring the blue-tree’d green-skied world they stepped into. Go on, give us your all, we could probably take it.

What Stan did know for sure though was that things were about to get real interesting. Not that things really got dull around Rick Sanchez either way.


	3. Day 3: Domestic Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now for day 3, Rick's getting ready for Mabel and Dipper's 15th b-day and Stan comes to his aid. 
> 
> And just another reminder I'm taking stanchez requests until March 24th. So if you have any ideas for stories don't be shy!

Rick still couldn’t believe it. The summer was already over. And soon he and the rests of the Smith’s would be leaving Gravity Falls and heading back to suburbia-hell Washington. It was so weird to think about. Just a few months ago it felt like time had literally slowed down, Rick had to check his one of his universal time tables just to make sure any freaky temporal shit was happening in this weirdo hick town in the middle of nowhere. It had been a real long, boring summer. The worst that happened was a gnome civil war and a unicorn revolt. It had been way to quiet for Rick’s liking. He ended up dragging Stan or Morty and the other kids off into the multiverse every other night just to keep things interesting. And even then things still felt so quiet.

While it was happening it felt so boring. And yet now that was the last week of summer vacation it felt like it all went by in an instant. It messed with his head. Not a lot, but just enough to piss him off.

At least summers in Gravity Falls never ended on a sappy depressing note, with everyone moping around and feeling like shit. It was always pretty nice that the Twin’s birthday landed right at the end of the summer so they could all go out partying.

And from all the commotion he heard upstairs this morning, this was going to be an interesting one for sure. The second summer the Smith’s spent up here but it would be Dipper and Mabel’s third summer, and they were turning 15.

Now knowing the two a lot better than last year or the year before, Rick wanted to make them presents they would actually like. Something they would actually use and not just set aside in the back of a closet to collect dust. He wanted to knock their fucking socks off.

So while they were all upstairs party planning or whatever he went down to Ford’s underground labs and got cracking.

Of the two Mabel was the easier. Honestly he could of made literally anything and as long as he bedazzled it in hot pink Mabel would of loved it. But this summer he’d gone forty steps beyond that. So he’d made a modified version of one of his old favorites before his portal gun. It was a gun where each interchangeable barrel had a different purpose, there was a grappling hook, glitter canon, laser, freeze-ray, hot glue, this guy had everything Mabel could need. And he also painted it hot pink and bedazzled it. He knew the kid always liked her sparkles even when she was in the underbelly of her “punk goth stage” in life which was “totally not a phase guys!”

Dipper had been a little harder to pin down at first. He ended up scrapping his initial plan because half-way through he realized he wasn’t really making something Dipper would want, he was making something Ford would want. So he tossed out his first idea for an electronic journal. But he did keep the concept of a database for his work. And instead of making it writing base, he set it up on a medium the kid used a lot more, camera. This camera could record and hold years of film, and all of it would go into a secure database for all his recordings and research.

Both the gun and the camera were completely finished, and just in time as the party was tonight at Fiddleford’s fancy mansion. All he had left to do was wrap the bastards.

Too bad wrapping gifts was the one few thing he sucked at. When it came to design, he was always functionality and price over looks and god did it show in his gift-wrapping. He already demolished one whole roll of paper, it all sat on the floor in shreds and coated in more tape than paper. And he was working his way to wasting one and a half roll of wrapping paper as he botched up his latest attempt at wrapping. It might have been easier if he’d made the gifts box-shaped, or put them in boxes, but they were so asymmetrical and always looked like shit once he had them secured in tape. He was just about to give up and go look for gift bags like a weakling when the elevator down to the lab came to life and started whirring.

As the cart came down Rick crossed his fingers hoping it wasn’t Ford. When it came to parties the guy usually ducked to find a hiding spot and wait everything out if he could and he really didn’t want him coming down here and seeing the shitty state of his presents.

When the doors finally opened though he was slightly less upset to see Stan there. Sure his Lee wasn’t as annoying as Ford, he was dating him again after all, but he still wasn’t happy with anyone seeing him struggle to do something as easy as wrap presents.

“There you are! Been looking for your sorry hind everywhere!” Stan called out as he stepped down into the basement laboratory.

As he walked towards the bench Rick had been working on he wondered if maybe he should bother hiding the presents, at least all the paper and tape on the floor. But Stan was getting close and it was already too late, he saw the mess and his eyes widened a little.

Then he just smirked at Rick, clasping his hands behind his back like a dick. “Wow! You still have no idea how to wrap presents?”

“It’s harder than it looks, ass!” Rick huffed as he looked back at his recent attempts at presents. This time round wasn’t too bad… on one side. When he turned it over it was a mess of taped-off papers. There were a few spots where the paper didn’t even cover the gift. Pouting he once again ripped off all the paper and tossed it on the ground.

Before he could start attempt number 23 Stan stopped him, nudging him aside and swiping the roll or wrapping paper out of his hands. “Here, let an old pro! Mabel’s been hounding me on proper wrapping etiquette ever since she first came here!”

“I’m fine!”

“Come on, it’ll take be like two minutes! Besides, you really want to show the kids these? You know Jerry would have a field day with’em!”

Rick caved in at that, he could take humiliation from anybody else, but never in his life would he ever let a Jerry talk shit about him. He hoisted himself up onto the bench to watch Stan at work.

As he worked he rolled out a sheet of paper double the size of Mabel’s gift and began marking off crease line with a pencil along all the funky little curve and nobules on the gun. Then after cutting a few of the creases, he folded them over so they were fleshed to the shape of the gun. Soon after strips of paper were stretched across and while you could clearly see it was a gun, it was still completely wrapped-up.

As Stan went to work on wrapping Rick’s camera, he flashed a cheeky grin at Rick.

“Show off.” He muttered, still pouty but unable to stop watching Stan at work.

“You’re welcome!” Stan said back mock-sweetly before he went back to marking crease-lines onto the paper. “Why are you even worried about this stuff? Usually you just wrap things terribly and don’t give a shit.”

“I dunno.” Rick replied, trying to keep a cool, apathetic tone. “I guess I’d rather not look like a complete embarrassment to your nibs’. Spent long enough on their presents. Nothing was half-assed so the presentation shouldn’t be half-assed either.”

“They look pretty neat, that’s for sure. How long did you spend working on’em?” Stan asked as he cut up some strips and began folding them over Dipper’s gift.

“Little less than a month, Dipper’s camera went a little longer cause I had to scrap my first idea.” Rick answered easily.

“Why’d you have to do that?”

“Eh, didn’t really seem like something he’d actually like once I started working on it. I wanted to make thing’s your kids would want use this year, you’know? Something they’d actually like? I think I got it right though, so both of them should be happy with their gear. I think they’ll appreciate them at-at the least or something like that-“

Rick hadn’t realized he’d been talking so long. When he looked back up at Stan he’d already finished the present and was beaming at him.

“What?”

Stan had his head leaned up on his fist and he still had that weird look on his face. “You really want to impress them, don’t you Sanchez?”

“Wha- No! The- those little bastards can go peddle these on the streets day after their birthday! I don’t give a shit!”

“You’re getting soft!” Stan teased.

“Fuck off!” Rick shoved him away but Stan just laughed.

And he leaned back his ruffling Rick hair, “Hey they’re pretty great kids, so it’s not all that surprising. But don’t worry, you’re secrets safe with me!”

“Whatever, get off me!” Rick squirmed out of Stan’s hold and readjusted his hair from its frazzled state back to its normal frazzled state.

And Stan stepped away from the bench as Rick hopped down and grabbed his newly-wrapped resents.

“So I got some other stuff to take care of but I’ll see you at the party right? You and you’re beautifully wrapped presents?” Stan asked smirking as he stepped into the elevator.

“Ya, if I don’t have anything better to do.” Rick replied stepping in right after him.

The elevator door slid shut and began pulling them back up to the surface. Rick tucked the presents into his coat pocket, he’d keep them there until the party then whip them out once they were done opening the gifts from everyone else.

On the ride up he caught himself wondering about how the two would react to his gifts. If it would blow them right out of the water. If Mabel would get all jumpy and screechy and thank him a billion times. Or if Dipper would start freaking out, asking a hundreds questions a minute about how the camera worked. If they would really like their presents.

When the hell did he start caring so much?

When all this began two years ago he'd started out a little distant to the younger twins. Sure they were cute, but Rick hadn't really seen much else in them. They both reminded him of Ford though, especially Dipper, all wide-eyed and excited to talk about aliens and monsters. And while Mabel wasn't as clear cut as her brother, she still had a lot of Stanford Pines to her, whenever she got on a project she dedicated her whole life to it, and that pride. And both seemed like they were always trying to impress. But over the past year or so of being around them and seeing them in action, they really grew into their own, weird, original people and wormed their way into his heart. Right next to Morty and Summer. And he realized he was actually hoping they had a nice time on their trip today, now he was the one trying to impress them.

Even as the elevator slid open and Stan pecked him on the cheek before stepping out his train of thought was stuck on the kids.

Maybe Stan was right, maybe he was getting soft…

Yet it was something he didn’t feel strongly happy, or upset about. It was just something that had happened ever since he came back to Earth. Sorta like his rekindled relationship with Beth. Or his now with Stanley.


	4. Day 4: Vices and Virtues

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now for Day 4: Vices and Virtues, Stan and Rick wake up at the end of a crazy bender.
> 
> And just another reminder I'm taking stanchez requests until March 24th. Two days left! So if you have any ideas for stories don't be shy!

Stan didn’t know how he’d gotten caught up in all this again. Sure it was fun while it was happening but now that the rush and the excitement had finally worn off he was left with a hot pink glow still pulsing in the sides of his vision, limbs that felt like cinderblocks and a gross vomit after-taste in his mouth as he stared blankly at the grimy wall above him.

He’d sworn never to do this again. Back in 1979 he’d made a promise never to go on another bender for as long as he lived. After what happened he couldn’t even smoke without getting a phantom-like muscle memory for all the crazy shit he and Rick had gotten into. Never again he’d said. And yet years and years later he’d gone against all his better instincts.

And now here he was stuck on this bed god-knows-where feeling like pure shit.

The whole weekend was still a blur. They had started out just hanging out over at Fidd’s for a little get-together, just him Rick Ford and Fidds, when Rick pulled out a baggy with trexar powder. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d seen anything like that in years. And this stuff had been especially pure, none of the crappy stuff he and Rick could still barely afford back in their day. He’d been so certain Rick was bluffing, no one could afford trexar, and nobody would be stupid enough to just carry it around! But then Rick just pulled it all out and- and then…

Ford had been there too. Stan was pretty sure at least because he remembered watching with utter shock how Ford snorted up the stuff like a champ without coughing. He remembered the idea being so hilarious to him, that his nerdy, goody-two-shoes bro who refused to ever drink or smoke, his total square of a brother could now do lines of trexar without flinching. He laughed so much he ended up being the one coughing, granted that might have just been the trexar.

It all went to shit after that. They’d left Fidd’s place at some point, hopped over to Blitz and Chips. Maybe? Where ever it was it was painfully neon. He could only remember flashes for the most part. Wandering through an alien city with purple and pink trees. Struggling to crawl out of a booth in the corner of a club. He swore he saw Carol at some point. One clearer image in his head was of all four of them beating the shit out of a pair of Ricks who were hitting some Morty’s.

Crap. How long had this bender gone on for? Groaning Stan heaved himself onto his side to get a good look at the motel room he’d waken up in.

It was a small cramped room and their only furniture was two beds. In the bed farthest from him he saw the sleeping figures of Fidds and Ford all cuddled up and out cold. Because he started feeling paranoid he refused to look at anything else until he clearly saw both of their chests’ rise and fall. Trexar could be dangerous to take even as a healthy young person and they were a bunch old farts. What the hell had they been thinking? But the two of them looked alive and only sleeping. If he could of willed himself to move more he would have tried getting up and checking their pluses and coloring too but he still felt like he weighed an extra 500 pounds.

He did check himself though. He didn’t feel over-heated or clammy. His heart was normal. At least as normal as it’d become in his older age. And besides the persistent pink glow along his eyes he was doing pretty ok. The pink was an annoying post-high side-effect though. It was like an itch he couldn’t reach, like if he just turned his head enough he’d see the pink lamps that were shining directly in his face but he knew there was nothing really there. Luckily though if his past experiences were anything to still go by the pinkness should fade out within a few hours. Hopefully.

Trying to put his mind off the pink he rolled back over on the bed towards where he assumed he’d find Rick. Only to find empty rumpled bedsheets that were slightly warm.

He was just beginning to worry when he realized the glass sliding door next to his bed was wide open. The curtains had been pulled shut so barely any light leaked through, but they still waved and curled with a breeze. And the ambient city noise spilled into the room much louder than they had any right to. God dammit he hoped Rick was out there. He hated to think of anything terrible, but he had no idea where Rick was and they had all been so out of it last night…

Ignoring the aches in his back and hands he rolled over and struggled to sit up and get out of the bed. Then staggering to the door he ripped the curtain away. Only to be greeted by the sight of Rick leaning on the edge of the balcony and aimlessly staring out at the city. The sun hadn’t risen just yet, but the sky was all orange and yellow, and the pink Stan still kept seeing made it look even nicer.  

“Hey!” Stan said, coughing a bit as his voice felt dry and hoarse.

Rick turned to look at him, there were dark bags under his eyes that made him look even older than he already was. Not that Stan thought his current state would be any better.

“Yo! How-how’re you feeling, Lee?”

Stan shrugged. “Eh, there’s still this pink in my eyes. Feel like I got hit by a truck. But besides that I’m fine I guess.”

Rick laughed a little and pulled Stan close, looking at his eyes. “Yeah, your eyes are still a little dilated. Are the nerds up yet?”

“Nah, they’re both out cold.”

Stan turned back just to make sure and yes they were, the only difference was he heard the two grumbling as they pulled the bedsheets over their heads to block out the light. Oh yeah, the curtains. Stan pulled them shut behind him and fully stepped out onto the small balcony. Now that they had some semi-privacy Stan decided to ask a question that had him wondering ever since that start of this bender back at McGucket’s place.

“Hey Rick?”

“Hmmm?”

“Where the hell did you get your hands on high-quality trexar? I mean, back in the day we thought we were lucky even to get the crappy stuff.”

Rick hummed but didn’t lookback at him as he looked at the morning sky. “I got it as a thank-you from a buddy of mine a while back. ‘Thought now was a good point to crack it open. Trexar’s one of those things you gotta do with a group, ya’know? It’s-It ain’t no fun to do it alone.”

“That’s a good point… I guess.” Rick’s answer barely answered any of Stan’s question. Rick had a lot of friends from a lot of dimensions. But Rick obviously wasn’t planning on divulging any more info so Stan dropped the subject for now.

However as he opened his mouth again he was forced into a rough bout of coughing. His throat burned from his lungs to the inside of his nose and tears stung his eyes. As the coughs died down he realized he was leaning over the balcony. And Rick’s hand was steady on his back. “H-hey, you alright babe?”

Stan had to clear his throat and spit down onto the parking lot before he could get his voice back. Even then when he spoke it still hurt. “Yeah, I’ good. Just need to drink something.”

Before he could fully comprehend what was happening, something silver was pushed towards his face. “Here, I got- there’s a little left in there-“

Stan took the silver thing and as it sat lightly in his hands he realized it was Rick’s flask. And there was only a few splooshes of liquid left swishing inside it. And when he took a sip and coughed the knot that had formed in Rick’s inside tightened. Yep, that was vodka. Stan couldn’t believe Rick.

He’d talked to Rick about confronting his drug and drinking problems only three. Once when they were young. Stan had wanted them to quit together. The second point had been after he’d gotten hitched. He would head out to Gravity Falls so his wife and Beth wouldn’t see him drink, like seriously binge drink, enough to knock out a horse. And the other time was just a few years ago. And every time he’d gotten similar answers.

“Rick?” He asked uneasily. “Have you been drinking this entire time? On top of the trexar?”

Rick swiped back the flask and hid it into his coat pocket. “So what? I know what I’m doing. I just needed something to take that edge off. You know how aggressive the trexar can get-“

“Oh my god Rick, how the hell are you not dead yet?” Stan groaned into his hands.

Rick just laughed it off, smiling in a way that didn’t reach his eyes. “Ain’t that the fucking question of th-of the day.”

Stan just sighed and Rick ignored it. He would never pressure Rick, or force him to do anything he wouldn’t, or couldn’t do. But it still didn’t stop him from worrying about him. At least they weren’t pulling stunts like this every weekend, like they had when they were younger. At least parties and benders like these had become one-off scenarios. But that small reassurance did nothing to stop Stan's worries. About the future, what would happen to himself, what would happen to Rick...

While Rick kept laughing, they both watched the sun finally creep off the ground and rose above the cityscape. But the knots in Stan’s insides refused to budge.


	5. Day 5: Road Trip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And finally, this may all be a week late but I finally got through all the prompts! To anyone whose read these, thanks a bunch and I hope I did one of my favorite pairings some justice.
> 
> And one last reminder, I'm taking any Stanchez requests you got all day today and tomorrow!

Despite being mid may, there was still a chill in the air that made Rick skin prickle up. Typical Oregon. Why did it have to be so cold still, spring had come and gone already! Sure it beat being hot as balls like it would be later this month but that wouldn’t stop Rick from complaining about the cold until then.

Personally Rick just wanted to get driving already. It was early, it was cold, and Rick was already feeling antsy without those first to things irritating him. At the moment he was waiting outside the manor, curled around himself as he paced about the main doors waiting for Fiddleford to get out here already. He kept saying he needed to make some final checks but if Rick didn’t know any better, he’d say he was just stalling now.

After over half a year of waiting, finally, today was the day the Pines Twins sailed back to land. The plan was that he and Fiddlenerd would drive out to meet them on the coast then bring them back here to Gravity Falls.

If only Fiddleford would leave his fucking house! Grumbling under his breath, Rick stomped down the marble staircase over to a dingy hippie van Fiddleford had proudly bought for himself after becoming a millionaire. And leaning into the driver’s window he started rapidly pressing the horn.

“COME! ON! NERD! LET’S! GO!”

He heard an ‘eep!’ indoors and then bare feet on tile rushing to the main doors. They Fiddleford peaked out the door, glaring at Rick.

“Rick Sanchez! You be patient now! I told ya, once and I’ll say it again, I ain’t leaving this house unprepared!”

Rick groaned as he shoved down the horn one last time. “Oh come on Fiddlenerd let’s just go already! You’re stinking rich, anything happened you could buy it again or-or whatever.”

But Fiddleford just rolled his eyes at Rick. “I’m nearly finished so why don’t you just sit down and hush up! You’re downright unbearable sometimes, you know that?”

“Whatever! Go fucking count all your windows and shit one more time, ya’ old nerd!”

Fiddleford gave a small hmph before letting the giant doors slam shut behind him.

Well, looks like this road trip’s already off to a shitty start, Rick thought to himself and he climbed into the hippy van. He knew starting this early was a bad idea, everyone was way too tired and moody.

And for the first half hour the two drove in grumpy silence, Rick sulking in the passenger seat while Fiddleford drove, looking only at the road. But as time went on and the night sky began steadily lightening to a blue instead of inky black Rick finally let it go and loosened up. Sure the woods looked the same no matter how far out of town they drove, like they were just looping around the same acre of woods over and over again, but at least they were nice looking woods. He remembered how their first summer in Oregon Summer and Morty kept trying to take pictures of the woods and empty roads on their phones. Said they were ‘aesthetic photos’ or something.

And as the sky brightened more and more, clouds turning pink and purple, finally the sun rose and Rick could finally see. He hadn’t seen much of the interior of the Hippie van but he had to admit McGucket’s renovations to the ancient thing made it a pretty cozy space. The kind that would of put any gang of wandering hippies to shame. Everything was in a mellow tea green color scheme and while not super fancy like he’d expected from a filthy rich old fart, the pillows and blankets put about made the whole place look soft. If he weren’t so pumped up already he would of probably took a nap in the back the whole time.

And then he just had to turn and looked at Fiddleford, he went a solid three seconds before he burst out laughing.

“What?” Fiddleford asked with a slight growl, but it was about as threatening as a pomeranian.

“Oh my- holy-” God Rick was wheezing now. In truth it wasn’t even that funny it was just compared to the dull woods that all looked the same and the quiet atmosphere in the van, Fiddleford’s current state was like comedic gold to Rick.

“Oh my god Fiids, you look like one of those old farts hunched over the wheel. All- all fucking squinty!” He barely could even see over the steering wheel, Rick couldn’t believe it.

“Well you’re no spring chicken yourself, ain’t you older than me?”

“Please tell me were going 30 under.” Rick said ignoring Fiddleford’s comment completely and laughing again.

Fiddleford finally turned away from the road and jabbed a finger at Rick’s chest. “You wanna drive? Cause we can switch at any point if you think you can do a better job, Sanchez!”

“Sure! Let’s fu-UUUGGGHHH-cking switch at the next stop and you can go get your prunes or-or whatever.” He finally heard Fiddleford laugh at that, but it wasn’t his crazy donkey-bray, just a tiny little chuckle.

Rick couldn’t help but see it now, he sorta hyper-focused on it now. He could clearly see the old, or rather young, Fidds in his mind from college. All patterned prints and bellbottoms, and golden curls. Now he barely had any hair on his head and his face was all wrinkles and a trimmed pure-white beard. He still had the same nose though, and all the floral and paisley prints. So much had changed about him yet at the same time barely anything at all. And he realized the same could be said about himself as well as he caught his face in the review mirror. Despite his attempts at styling, his bald spot was prominent. And there were some brown wisdom spots freckling his face.

“God! We’re-we’re really fucking old!”

“Ain’t that the truth?” Fiddleford said with a sigh, now consciously trying not to lean over the wheel and sat up straight. “Guess we should count ourselves lucky though. Not everyone gets ta’make it this long.”

“Never thought I’d make it, that’s for sure.” Rick said leaning back and relaxing into his seat more.

And while it was much quieter, he didn’t miss Fiddleford’s soft “Me neither…”

 

After that the van seemed to warm up more as the sun rose. And when the sun finally got high enough that Fiddleford and Rick could put down their screens the atmosphere was completely different from its tense start. They talked easily, about nearly everything from reality and inter-dimensional mathematics to the fun misadventure they had in their younger days and current days as well, to their relationships with the Pines twins. And they found that they had quite a bit in common despite being such painfully polar opposites.

And when they did stop at a rest stop in the middle of nowhere, they even explored the area a bit before leaving. It was an interesting spot, definitely had a liminal vibe going on. Ford would probably want to tear it apart if he were there. After the pair stretched out some they got back in the van and continued on their way. This time though Fiddleford actually surrendered his keys to Rick, warning him not to get reckless or wreck his van. To which Rick had teased that “the old millionaire could just go buy five more” before Fidds shoved him into the driver’s seat.

It was… Rick actually enjoyed himself. This roadtrip was fun.

As he drove, Fiddleford crawled into the back, taking advantage of all the pillows and blankets he had stored about, and took a nap.

Things moved slowly while they happened, yet so fast when Rick looked back at them on that ride. And hours later, after switching spots a few more times, fucking finally, they broke through the woods to see the coastal region of Oregon. The ocean always made Rick think of Stan. The churning waves, the ships sailing out in the distance, the way the water seemed to go out beyond the horizon infinitely. And it reminded him just how close he was to seeing his Lee again.

The final hour of driving up the coast was unbearable. They were so close, yet so far. Rick became a restless wreck but he couldn’t have cared less. Fiddleford didn’t seem to care either as he was in the same boat as himself. The little old man’s feet were turning to lead as he sped around the twists and bends along the highway following alongside the coast.

Until finally, finally finally, they made it to the port the twins had planned to dock their ship. It was a small, rickety series of docks with barely any other people. Rick and Fiddleford’s arrival might have been the only excitement the ghost-town of a port had seen by the way the old sailors milling about bristled at their energy. As soon as Fiddleofrd parked the van the two of them were out and running to the port. They had seen the Stan’o’War tethered near the end of the docks as they drove in, bobbing up and down near the shore.

Rick and Fidds raced onto the docks, nearly ignorant to the raised eyebrows they received. Rick didn’t give a shit. All that mattered to him was the old guy with the beard and the long silver hair under a beanie, waving to him from his rust-bucket of a ship. Stan hopped over the edge of the ship and onto the docks as he saw Rick and Fidds running towards him and hollered at his brother to get outside too. Then looking back beaming, Stan ran towards Rick and hoisted him off the ground in a tight hug. Not even thinking twice Rick kicked up his legs and wrapped them tightly around Stan’s middle.

Behind them he could see Fidds and Ford meet again, the two were caught somewhere between hugging, kissing and shaking hands. Rick couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the old nerds.

But his focus was quickly drawn back to Stan as he started kissing his cheek and neck. Rick hugged him tight enough to press down on his ribs and Stan finally relented, setting the man back on the ground.

“So, you missed me?” Stan asked smirking.

“Shut up.” Rick snapped back though there wasn’t any real bite in his voice.

Stan just laughed and pulled him close again.


End file.
